Title Spiritual Virus (Isaiah 2:5-11)
Contents
Avian influenza is spreading rapidly in many Asian and European countries, mainly in China, which is causing concern. Avian influenzae is an acute viral infectious disease that infects birds. Fortunately, there have been no reports of this in Korea yet, but Korea is no exception.
Last Monday was Ip-dong. Winter has already come. This winter, the flu virus is predicted to be strong. I don't know if young children and elderly people have been vaccinated against the flu. If you haven't been vaccinated yet, I hope you get it all within this week.
Among the threats to human life and safety is a "virus". Virus means "poison" in Latin. Viruses can be divided into animal viruses, plant viruses, and bacterial viruses. When infected with a virus, symptoms that are different from those of normal cells appear. The cell size changes, the chromosomes change, the cell's proliferation rate becomes too fast, and abnormal phenomena occur such as mutations on the surface of the cell. So it's dangerous.
Although it is different from this pathogenicity, the computer, a symbol of the information society, is a target for viruses. If your computer is also infected with a virus, it can cause fatal flaws. The dead virus shouldn't be caught. Viruses are negative and troublesome.
Nevertheless, it is a fact that all kinds of viruses are infested all around us. By the way, healthy people do not develop the disease directly because they are immune. Therefore, it is important to prevent and eradicate the virus, but it is even more important to take good care of your body.
The problem is that human interest and life are too oriented to physical things, so the vigilance against pathogenic bacteria and viruses that cause disease in the body is strong, but the vigilance and quarantine efforts against spiritual viruses and spiritual bacteria are weak. However, the body is ultimately governed by the spirit, and only when the soul prospers can all things prosper and the body can be strong.
The foundation of life with true faith is very strong. A life with good faith is like a super tanker, so it is not shaken by any waves. Likewise, this applies to communities as well. In every community there will be stones to stumble and rocks to stumble upon. In the process of pursuing something, you will receive help from people who are inclined to support it, whether internally or externally, but otherwise, you will meet obstacles. When encountering such stumbling stones and stumbling rocks, a community with a strong constitution can overcome and go out.
Shigeo Haruyama, a Japanese doctor who is the author of [Intracerebral Revolution 1 and 2], emphasized the idea of Fullers. He emphasized that if humans come up with the fullus idea, humans will be able to defeat the greatest enemies of mankind, aging and disease. The reason is that when you have a positive idea, the pharmaceutical factory in your body creates a drug that is beneficial to the body. The Fuller's idea is positive thinking and a good idea. In other words, it is a religious thought. Conversely, negative thinking accelerates aging and causes disease. Negative thoughts are negative thoughts and bad thoughts. In other words, it is an unbelieving thinking. From beginning to end, he strongly asserts, "Thinking with the mind does not stop at the state of an abstract idea, it is necessarily transformed into a concrete substance and acts on the body." So, "The brain secreted hormone changes your life."
The negative idea is that it is a spiritual virus. We must guard against this.
Of the 12 spies who returned from spying on Canaan, 10 were the representative cases of negative ideas. And after hearing the reports of those 10 people, the disbelieving congregations resenting and complaining in Kadesh-Barnea were also people who thought negatively.
However, among them, Joshua and Caleb were the representative cases of the plus idea. What was the result? None of the negative-minded people who rebelled and resented in Kadesh-Barnea could not enter the land of Canaan. Only the new generation born in the wilderness, Caleb, and Joshua were allowed to enter the land of Canaan.
In today's text, the Israelites were infected with a spiritual virus. Chapter 2 of Isaiah records the situation of Judah in the days of King Uzziah. Uzziah ascended to the throne at the young age of 16. At first, he had such a heart as 'I became a king at a young age, so we must be careful to serve God and love this people. However, while Uzziah was doing well, he became proud. So I became a person who did things that I shouldn't have done without hesitation. At first, he ruled the country well, but later he became proud. Eventually, God struck him, and he became a leper, and he was expelled from the palace and imprisoned in a separate palace before death. For King Uzziah, the virus was pride.
And the people of Judah in the days of Uzziah followed superstition.
The phrase ?쐄ull of Eastern customs??in verse 6 means that it is full of many superstitions. And the phrase ?쐀ecame a magician like the Philistines??means to become a fortune teller. The Philistines loved fortune-telling. In the days of King Uzziah, there were so many fortune tellers that there was even a fortune teller's union. And the saying, ?쏻e made a covenant with the Gentiles by holding hands??means compromise with the Gentiles. Verse 7 says, ?쏷he land is full of silver and gold, and its treasures are infinite.??This means that God has been exchanged for money. The phrase "the land is full of horses" means that they prepared sacrifices to idols. ?쏷he number of chariots??is an expression of reliance on weapons rather than God. In verses 8-9, they worshiped idols.
The people of Judah who were infected with this spiritual virus suffered physically and mentally and suffered embarrassment. They threw away the idol they believed in with my own hands. And in the end, it was defeated.
Viruses require a vaccine. Vaccines are prophylactic and also curative. A vaccine can prevent infection and cure what is infected.
Serving God well is the vaccine. He said that if we serve God well, all diseases that were allowed in Egypt will not come to us, and even if we become ill, the Lord will heal us because I am the Lord who heals.
And if you want to be infected, I hope you can be infected with the happiness virus, the laughter virus, and the Jesus Christ virus.
(Rev. Song Ki-hyun)